Heat pipe for submerged combustion burner
AssigneeOwens-Brockway Glass Container Inc.
InventorLiming Shi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A submerged combustion burner, a submerged combustion melter including the submerged combustion burner, and method of operating the submerged combustion burner are disclosed. The submerged combustion burner includes central burner tube and a heat pipe that surrounds and extends beyond a terminal end of the central burner tube. When received in a burner opening defined in a melting tank of a submerged combustion melter, the heat pipe of the submerged combustion burner is disposed between the central burner tube and the floor of the melting tank. The heat pipe transfers or pumps heat via a sealed working fluid to a cooling fluid that thermally communicates with the heat pipe exterior to the melting tank.
Claims16
A submerged combustion burner, comprising:
- a central burner tube extending along a longitudinal axis and including a terminal end, the central burner tube defining an internal passage;
- a heat pipe that surrounds and extends beyond the terminal end of the central burner tube, the heat pipe including a forward end, which is positioned axially beyond the terminal end of the central burner tube, and a rearward end, which overlaps with the central burner tube, the heat pipe comprising a working fluid sealed therein;
- and
- an outer tube that surrounds the central burner tube and connects to the rearward end of the heat pipe, the outer tube and the heat pipe defining an annular space around the central burner tube;
- wherein the internal passage of the central burner tube directs a flow of one of a fuel or an oxidant through the central burner tube while the annular space directs a flow of the other of the fuel or the oxidant.
A submerged combustion melter, comprising:
- a melting tank having a floor that defines a burner opening;
- a submerged combustion burner received in the burner opening such that combustion products discharged from the submerged combustion burner are directed into an interior of the melting tank, the submerged combustion burner comprising a central burner tube and a heat pipe, the central burner tube defining an internal passage and extending along a longitudinal axis to a terminal end, and the heat pipe surrounding and extending beyond the terminal end of the central burner tube such that the heat pipe is disposed between the terminal end of the central burner tube and the floor of the melting tank, the heat pipe including a forward end, which is positioned axially beyond the terminal end of the central burner tube, and a rearward end, which overlaps with the central burner tube, the heat pipe comprising a working fluid sealed therein.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.